Building a desktop computer from parts for Windows or Linux is easy, as most drivers are out there, and perhaps even built into the operating system itself. Piecing together a Hackintosh, or "CustoMac" is quite a different beast altogether. In addition to determining if your prospective components work together, you also need to know whether the hardware is even supported by Apple's standard drivers.

With help and guidance from Jimx86, Lnx2Mac, and MacMan, here are 3 CustoMac builds that have our seal of approval. This means that if we were buying stuff today, we'd not hesitate to purchase any of these parts for a CustoMac build running Mac OS X as the primary operating system.

All three builds include:

Gigabyte P55 Motherboard

Intel Core i-series Quad-Core CPU

4GB or 8GB of RAM, expandable up to 16GB

1 TB Hard Drive

CD/DVD Burner

Case and Power Supply

We've included all components besides monitor, as any standard monitor will do. You can use these recommendations as a jumping off point for further customization, or as a shopping list. Prices reflect those as of June 2010, and do not include shipping or tax.

NOTE: Unfortunately for ATX users, Gigabyte has transitioned away from the ALC 889a codec, that Apple uses. If you can get your hands on a discontinued GA-P55-UD4P or GA-P55-UD5, the onboard audio chip will work natively. We still recommend any Gigabyte P55 board, but ALC 889a is preferable.

As Mac OS X Snow Leopard was never meant to be installed on this hardware, any drivers that work now, may need workarounds later. There are absolutely no guarantees when it comes to this stuff- but that's what makes it fun.

Oh, and don't forget, if you end up buying anything, click through one of the links above, or in the sidebar. That way, you'll be supporting the site, as well as getting the best prices. Thanks in advance!

For USB issues without a DSDT, we've put together USBFamilyMOD 9.9.9 installed in /Extra/Extensions. It's in the latest MultiBeast. Alternately, you can roll back IOUSBFamily.kext in System/Library/Extensions to 10.6.2 or lower.

We're looking for contributors to make this site a valuable resource- it's only going to grow with your help! Go ahead and add your confirmed desktops, laptops, graphics cards to the pages linked to the front, or create a new page! Let me know if you have any great ideas for sections- post at this thread in the forum. Have fun with it!

-tonymacx86

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

We know that using a DSDT is the best way to create a vanilla Hackintosh build. The problem is that there have been numerous articles and forum posts on editing that are based on old versions of Gigabyte BIOS extracts. Many of them are retreads of the same information, and are more complex than necessary.

Since we provide pre-edited DSDT's in our database, MacMan wanted to figure out what was the least amount of edits he can do, while trying to make the edits match a real Mac as much as possible.

To read the full article, and detailed explanations behind each edit, visit MacMan's blog.

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Today, Multibeast 2.0 is released. There are many new features and improvements that will make the new version more efficient and easier to use than ever before. Some of the many improvements include the 10.3.1 Supported Kernel for most Core i3/i5/i7s, USB 2.0 support for non-DSDT users, and more predefined smbios hardware description options. In addition, audio compatibility has been greatly improved by adding 10.6.2 AppleHDA Rollback by default for non-889a LegacyHDA options, as well as including the latest VoodooHDA 0.2.61. Finally, Chameleon installation scripts have been perfected for multiple Operating System booting.

With Gigabyte's many BIOS upgrades and additions, it's been difficult to keep MultiBeast current. GigaBeast, the all-in-one installation solution for Gigabyte P55 motherboards, has been removed in order to prevent the tool from being constantly outdated. The good news is that the functionality is still available using UserDSDT, with the added ability to customize your installation to your preferences, not ours.